As we pack to leave Shanghai, I’m astounded that two years have passed since we first arrived, shell-shocked and jet-lagged, from America. In a mere 24 months, we explored over a dozen Chinese cities and towns and, thanks to the generous Chinese holiday schedule, visited seven countries in Asia and one in Europe. I am incredibly grateful for everything we’ve seen and experienced.
From the rolling green hills and expansive blue skies of China’s Yunnan Province to the jewel-covered temples and white sand beaches of Thailand, from the urban jungles of Seoul and Tokyo to the sleepy mountains of Luang Prabang and Chiang Mai, these past two years in Asia have been a veritable feast for the senses.
I took thousands of photos during the course of our travels, wanting to capture every moment so that I can look back fondly and remember these life-affirming adventures in vivid detail. So when I was nominated by my friends at Fly, Icarus, Fly and Jdomb’s Travels to enter the 2013 Capture the Colour Photography Contest hosted by TravelSupermarket.com, I relished the opportunity to pore over my snapshots and find favorites in each color category.
Red
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: Riding the bus back to HCMC after an exhausting day exploring the Cu Chi Tunnels, I glanced out the window and saw this striking woman on a scooter. I was captivated by her elegance and grace amid the chaotic traffic and extreme heat. I had just one chance to capture the moment before she disappeared out of sight.
Blue
DMZ, South Korea: While visiting Seoul, we took a tour of the Demilitarized Zone along the North Korean border, one of the most heavily guarded spots in the world. From behind the protective line of imposing South Korean soldiers, we got our first glimpse of North Korea. Whimsical blue conference buildings straddle the border, allowing visitors to step “into” the Hermit Kingdom without risk of hard labor in a prison camp.
Green
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina: On a trip home to visit my parents, my dad and I stopped by the Alligator Adventure park to check out the local wildlife. In addition to the gators, we found dozens of brightly colored birds in large aviaries. Four gorgeous green parrots forming a perfect line on a tree branch caught my attention. Easing my camera into position between the narrow bars of the cage, I quickly snapped a few shots while they were all looking at me and before the closest one pecked at my lens with its sharp beak.
Yellow
Siem Reap, Cambodia: During a trip to Angor Wat, our tuk tuk driver announced that he knew a shortcut between two far flung temples and darted down a red dirt path through the jungle. Over an hour later, with few traces of civilization in sight, he pulled up to a display of old liquor bottles filled with mysterious yellow liquid. Given that our day had already involved stops to sample fresh palm sugar candy and other snacks, we steeled ourselves for a taste of local moonshine. Turns out we had nothing to fear as the bottles were filled with gasoline – this was a provincial filling station!
White
Yunnan Province, China: We spent two weeks exploring Yunnan, China’s most southwestern Province, and were charmed by the cool mountain air and wide open spaces. During a bike ride on the outskirts of Lijiang, we came across this majestic white horse grazing peacefully under cottony white clouds. We were totally alone but for the horse and for a moment forgot this is a country of 1.3 billion.
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Now I get to nominate more fabulous bloggers to share in ferreting out the photos:
Jack and Jill Travel the World
All bloggers are welcome to participate even without being nominated. You can find the full contest details at TravelSupermarket.comif you’d like to enter.
Beautiful photographs. I loved the Green 🙂
Thanks! I think that’s my favorite too 🙂
Thanks for nominating me Heather! Your photo are amazing – I loved the gasoline story! Looking forward to a happy hour or two poring through my photos now….:-)
Thanks Fiona! That day in the Cambodian jungle is one of my favorite travel memories from our time in Asia. I hope you have as much fun going through your photos as I did! I can’t wait to see what gorgeous entries you dig up 🙂
Thank you so much for the nomination! I can’t imagine going through 2 years worth of photos in search of the ones you found; after just one year, we have way more photos than we know what to do with and I have no idea how we’ll choose ones to enter.
Love your blue entry at the DMZ—so striking & the colors really pop!
It is very tough to choose, especially when you’re so invested in the memories the photos represent. I ended up with two or three selections for each color and had my husband help make the final decision. That DMZ photo was his favorite because the bright blue color of the buildings is so at odds with the tense atmosphere pervading the space. It took a few evenings to scan through all my photos, but since we are days away from moving back to the States, it was fun to look back on our Asia travels and remember why we moved here in the first place 🙂
Good luck making your selections!
wow, beautiful entries, I’m drawn to the red, but I remember all those bottles of gasoline for yellow and it always freaked me out seeing this in Cambodia….scary
I’m inviting you to join us for Travel Photo Mondays, the link runs all week so I hope you can join us for the next installment?
Thanks so much, Noel! I’d love to join you for Travel Photo Mondays, but I might have to wait until the week after next. We’re moving from Shanghai back to the States on Sunday and it will probably take us a few days to get settled.
Love the bottles of gasoline on the side of the road, that is such a SE Asia thing.
Still not fully knowing what was inside, we were stunned when our tuk tuk driver bought two bottles. When the girl started pouring them into the gas tank with a filter, we were so relieved! Gotta love the ingenuity 🙂
Great choices! Love the blue and green photos!
Thanks for nominating me! I had so much fun going back through all my photos 🙂
Heather- these are all great, I love all of your choices! So jealous of everything you have gotten to see and do and I have loved reading your blog. Congrats! Have a safe trip back.
Stephanie
Thanks so much, Stephanie! Your comment really means a lot 🙂 As much as we enjoyed our time in Asia, we are looking forward to being home for a while. Hope to see you soon!
You take such beautiful photos! I’m sure it was hard picking out your favorites. Mine is the parrots. They are so colorful and look like they are getting ready to talk to you. I enjoyed my visits with you in Shanghai and can’t wait for our next adventure! It will be nice having you here in the States for a while, though. I know Dad is looking forward to seeing you. Have a safe trip!!
Thanks Mom 🙂 Looking forward to seeing you and Dad soon!!
Nice photos Heather! It’s pretty hard to choose, but I think my favorite are the green and blue ones. Good luck with the competition! 🙂
Thanks Franca! I saw that A Cruising Couple nominated you and I can’t wait to see your entry!
Thanks for nominating me, Heather! I think I’ve finally narrowed down my photos. 🙂 I LOVE the road-side gasoline stand picture. I remember seeing a lot of those in Cambodia also!
I can’t wait to see what photos you come up with! 🙂
Great choices! I can feel the intensity of the DMZ from here! :-p
I love these! So many stories behind these photographs. I love the first one – how does that red outfit stay so clean if this is how she drives to work?!
Good luck 🙂